A Better World
by The.Shadow.Night
Summary: Sequel to Stepping Up. The world is saved. The Lords are on ice. But now, there's a new world, a new chance. Will the Rebels take it or shall the other world fall into darkness?
1. The Day

**A Better World**

**The Day**

Today was supposed to be the day, but as Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash sat in the Hall of Justice, the felt as if it was anything but.

The League had all but lied to them. They said they were going to get to see the League's headquarters, but all they got was access into the tourist trap. There was a giant tower floating in space. And the league, their mentors, never told them about it.

Overall, today felt like it was pointless. They were nothing more than what they were went they entered, possibly less, even. They had gone off on a mission without them.

The League was supposed to stand for truth and justice. But mainly truth. By hiding this 'Watchtower' from them they had become hypocrites.

So here they were, sitting, waiting. Until the grand idea of investigating the fire at Cadmus got around. Even though they all agreed, they didn't want to be found out.

A flash of light, then a yellow sheen appeared. A group of kids their age, walked through. To make this strange event even stranger, it was them. Speedy, Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad led the pack. Behind them was a black girl, a blonde girl in green, a green girl, another girl dressed as a magician, and a boy that looked a lot like Superman.

The three teens got in defensive positions.

"Who are you?"

"We're Young Justice, and we've come to save the world," their Speedy said.

The three were shocked. The other Robin looked over to the computer where the Cadmus files were still up.

"You guys go, there's something there you need to find. We'll stay here and cover for you," he said.

"Why should we trust you?" Robin said.

"Batingency Plan 7."

Robin's eyes widened, and he had no more objections.

"Come on guys, let's go show the league. It's time for some poetic justice."

The three left, and the Rebels marveled at how easy it was to get them to leave.

"Batingency Plan 7?" Powerboy asked.

"I'll explain later," Nightwing said. "We need to stay here, cover in case the League comes back. You guys take care of Luthor."

And that's exactly what they did.

* * *

**Tada! The sequel to Stepping Up. I guess this is a trilogy now... I've got this mostly written, just need to finish up and post it. **

**Have a jolly day,**

**Shadow**


	2. To Another Dimension

**A** **Better World**

**To Another Dimension**

There were no heroes, not anymore. But there was hope, there was life. So, the lonely heroes sat in their tower and planned to save a new world, a world so like their own, yet so different.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Red Arrow asked Nightwing.

The entire Rebel Justice team was in the Watchtower, reviewing information that Nightwing had found on the Batcomputer. Batman had found a different dimension before he had been taken down, and had built a portal to it.

This dimension was unlike their own, but it was eerily similar. There, the heroes were called the Justice League, and they never turned evil. There, everyone was happy, it was like it had been in this dimension before the Flash died.

They scrutinized every detail, they labored over their decision. And now it was time for the vote.

"I've told you everything I could find," Nighwing replied.

"Then let's vote. All in favor of preventing the Flash's death and the subsequent future raise your hand," Red Arrow said.

Nightwing, Sorceress, Lightspeed, Tigress, Ghost, Powerboy, Tempest and Rocket raised their hands. Only Arsenal, Cheshire, and Red Arrow were left out.

Red Arrow rose to his feet. "I guess we're going then."

"Roy," Tigress stood and walked over to him. "The people don't need us here. We owe it to that other world to help them, to keep them from everything we've gone through."

Red Arrow shot her a grateful smile. "We need to plan this out. I don't want anything to go wrong."

They sat in their tower, above everyone else, cut off from the world they were about to leave. They planned and plotted, they created backup plans, and backup plans for their backup plans. Soon they would leave. Soon, they would once again save the world.

* * *

**And another chapter is up. I hope you guys are happy with it. And by the way, I'm taking next week off, so don't expect any updates. I have finals, so I'm going to be studying for them instead of writing.**

**Have a flaming day,**

**Shadow**


	3. Protection

**A Better World**

**Protection**

The three Rebels sat in the Hall of Justice, waiting for their alternate selves to return.

"Do you think they will find Superboy?" Tempest asked.

"Knowing them, I bet they will," Nightwing responded.

He then busied himself with hacking into the computer and monitoring the Justice League's fight with Wotan. The League wasn't having a problem with the evil sorcerer, but they all cringed when Superman grabbed the man. He looked like he was going to use his laser vision on Wotan, which is what their Superman had done to all the villains, lobotomizing them.

He also tried to monitor the three teens, but once they entered Cadmus, all their signals were blocked, and the security system was very secure. He'd need to plug into the server inside to hack it. Of course he could do it from the outside, but it would take an incredibly long time.

As they watched he battle with Wotan, the teens wondered what was going on with their teammates.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" Lightspeed asked.

"Depends on how fast they can kill Luthor," Nightwing replied.

"We must insure that this world will not become our own," Tempest added.

They glanced back at the monitors, and saw that the League had defeated Wotan.

"They're coming back! What are we going to do? The other guys aren't here!" Lightspeed said.

"We'll pretend that we're them. I'm sure they'll be fine for the few hours we'll need to take out Luthor and get home. Plus, this is a great chance for us to keep an eye on Flash. We don't want anything to happen to him, if it did, it would be the first step to utter chaos," Nightwing replied.

"All right. But we've got to be careful."

Kaldur nodded in agreement. "We must attempt to act as if we are truly their protégés."

"_Recognized: Batman 02, Aquaman 08, Flash 04."_

"Let's go," Batman said, grim as always.

Nightwing was so glad to see his father, a man who truly cared about him. The Batman of his world had taken to silence, he wouldn't even look at his adopted son. Robin was so lucky to have him., and he didn't even know how lucky he was. He followed Batman. Maybe he would even get some cookies.

Orin came up to Tempest and told him to stay there, he had some business to attend to before they went back to Atlantis.

"Yes my king," Tempest said. It felt so right to be obeying his king, the good soldier.

"You ready to go Kid?" Flash said.

"Yep!" Lightspeed replied.

Seeing his uncle again was like a blast from the past. He had been dead for years in their world. A small beep was heard in the room and Flash pulled out his pager.

"There's trouble in Central. Up for a fight?"

"You know it!"

The two took off, as happy and carefree as could be. Except, Lightspeed wasn't exactly carefree. He was worried for the Flash. If anything happened to him, the world would go to pot. Who knows, even if they got rid of Luthor, would history still manage to repeat itself? Would Barry still die?

Meanwhile, in Central City, an ugly monster was attacking. It looked like a man, but it had no distinguishing features and it had strange gnarled lumps all over its body. It was tall, and completely white. Beams of different colored light would shoot out of where its mouth should be. Each beam had a different effect to those it hit. The green made them incredibly weak. The yellow melted them like acid. The red flat out killed them. Only the purple seemed to have no effect.

When the two speedsters arrived on the scene, they quickly went to work. The Flash started attacking the creature, getting in sharp jabs while avoiding the beams. Lightspeed started pulling the civilians out of the monsters range. The fight continued, and the monster grew more and more agitated.

The monster wanted nothing. He just was made to destroy. He knew that's all he was meant to do. So, when the fast man prevented him from fulfilling his purpose, it made him angry. He tried shooting him with the beams he had taken the other people with, but they never hit. Then he had a small spark of an idea. The purple ray hadn't worked on any other humans, but maybe it would work on this one. He aimed carefully and fired where the man would be in the next second.

The Flash saw the ray before he hit it. He bent backwards, attempting to go under the beam, but it suddenly ducked down and hit him full force. He was pushed backwards, skidding along the ground.

"Flash!" Lightspeed yelled, rushing over.

The monster was distracted. It was waiting for some effect from the ray on the fast human. Lightspeed, hoping that his anatomy was similar to a humans, hit him in the back of the neck in a place that knock a human unconscious. The monster crumpled to the ground, the beam cut off.

Lightspeed rushed over to where Flash was on the ground. The police, a few ambulances, and a fire truck drove in, taking care of the injured and the monster. Some EMP's came over to help Flash, but Lightspeed waved them away.

"Are you okay?" he asked Flash.

"Yeah, the beam was just strong, it didn't do any real damage," he replied.

But truthfully, he wasn't so sure about that. Inside he felt funny, like something wasn't quite right.

His pager beeped again and he pulled it out. His brow furrowed as he read the message.

"Come on Kid, we're needed at Lexcorp in Metropolis," he said, anger apparent in his voice.

The two took off once more. Lightspeed didn't know what to think. Had something gone wrong with their plan? Or were they just going because they had found Luthor's body? He would find out soon enough.


	4. Luthor

**A Better World**

**Luthor**

The Rebels left the Hall of Justice soon after the three teens. They didn't want to look suspicious to the three sidekicks; otherwise they would have left sooner.

They didn't waste time with any prior planning or preparation. They had only one simple objective, kill Luthor. They had no regard for their own lives; no one wanted them back home. Nothing mattered except protecting this world from the evil that was Lex Luthor.

Nightwing, who was stuck back at the Hall of Justice, sent them some coordinates. That was where he believed Luthor to be. They 'borrowed' some motorcycles from the nearby dealership and they were off.

Metropolis was quiet, the people were happy. A cool breeze blew through the night. Then the sound of thundering motorcycles was heard, ripping through the quiet, threatening to destroy the calm.

Luthor sat in his office, working on some plans for a new weapon. The scientists had created it, he just had to do a bit of tweaking and it would be done. A few minutes later, he set it aside and pulled out another set of plans.

These plans were his own. He was making a ray that would use Kryptonite as its power source. It would weaken Superman long enough for him to destroy the alien.

A sudden crash was heard as a green girl flew through his window. She was dressed like Martian Manhunter, but as he watched, her clothes grew black and she grew a brilliant white. Twin thuds were heard above his head as arrows sank into the wood and two archers, one in red, the other in orange and black, jumped off the neighboring building and zipped into his office.

The door burst open and a boy in a black shirt with a modified S symbol appeared. Behind him, a black girl, and a magician in purple followed.

"What is this?" he asked.

"We're here to prevent the future from occurring," the Martian said.

"What future? I'm just an old businessman."

"But you're going to do things that will bring about your demise, as well as cause the world to fall under tyrannical rule," the red archer said.

"And how do you plan to stop me?" Luthor said cooly.

"By killing you," the female archer said, equally as nonchalant.

Luthor refused to make any emotional response. He pressed a button under his desk and continued to speak.

"And you're certain I'm going to bring about this future?"

"It happened in our world. Our worlds are too similar. The same historical events, few literary differences, and a bit of a time skip, but otherwise, they are the same," the black girl said.

"One thing I've learned is that you can't change the future. What's meant to happen will happen, and you can't do anything about it."

"We might as well try," the magician said.

A figure flew through the window, red cape flowing behind him. It was Superman.

"What's going on here?" he said.

"None of your business," the boy in black said.

"I'm making it my business," he replied. "Now, what do you want Luthor?"

"These young children have come here to kill me. I thought you might like to stop it, you know, fight for justice and all," Luthor replied.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?" Superman said, addressing the teens.

But while this was going on, Ghost had set up a mental link and the Rebels were discussing their next course of action.

_We have the backup plan, _Powerboy thought.

_But that'll put you out of commission. I don't think we'll be able to take out Luthor and get you out, _Red Arrow thought back.

_I agreed to do whatever's necessary,_ Powerboy shot back.

_No! Connor, you can't, _Ghost pleaded with him.

"Hello?" Superman said, snapping the kids out of their mental conversation.

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Tigress lied. "We were brought here by a strange portal while in a deathly battle with the Luthor of our world."

"I understand. It can be really confusing ending up in a different dimension. Let's see if we can get you home."

_Idiot,_ they all thought.

"They broke into my office and threatened to kill me! You can't just let them go!" Luthor yelled.

"They're just kids, Lex."

"No, they're not," a deep voice sounded from behind them.

Martian Manhunter walked through the door.

"They are lying to you. I have read their minds, they traveled to this dimension with only one purpose in mind, kill Luthor."

The Rebels instantly went into attack mode. Red Arrow pulled out their back up plan, the chunk of Kryptonite they had stolen from their Batman. Superman and Powerboy fell to the floor, weak from the green rock.

"Tup mih ni a egac fo erif!" Sorceress yelled.

A cage of fire appeared around Martian Manhunter, but the alien merely phased through the cage and blew them back with the force of his mind. Ghost pulled him into a mental battle.

Wonder Woman flew in through the window, and Tempest started fighting with her. Luthor called in his bodyguard, Mercy, and she started firing at the archers, who quickly ducked out of her way.

Things were about even, until the Green Lanterns showed up. They quickly captured the teens in bubbles of green energy. The Kryptonite was safely stored away, and Superman got up.

"There are more of them," Martian Manhunter said.

"Where are they?" Wonder Woman asked.

"They've taken the place of Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad."

"Call Batman, Flash, and Aquaman over here. We'll figure out what's going on once and for all," Superman said.

The teens merely pounded at the inside of the bubbles, trying to escape. They had to complete their mission. They had to save the world!

* * *

**So, Breeze and I are taking a trip to see our Grandma. That means, little or no updates for the next week or so. We're coming home next Saturday, so I'll try to get something up then, and maybe something else up tonight.**

**Have a snowfilled day,**

**Shadow**


	5. Questions

**A Better World**

**Questions**

Flash, Batman, and Aquaman met the others outside of Lexcorp. Hal responded quickly and trapped 'Robin', 'Kid Flash', and 'Aqualad' in a bubble of green energy.

"What's going on Superman?" Flash asked.

"These children are imposters. We must find where the real Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad have gone," Martian Manhunter answered.

"Where are they?" Batman asked the not Robin.

"Why should I tell you?" he answered.

"I'll be back," Batman said, leaving.

Everyone stood there amazed. They figured Batman would question the teens further.

"Where are we going to put them?" Wonder Woman asked.

"They can stay in the Mountain. No one's been there for years," John suggested.

Then all agreed, and flew quickly to the Mountain with the Rebels. They locked each teen in a separate room, and started questioning them.

Flash went into the room with the fake Kid Flash.

"Hey there. What's your name?" he asked.

"Wally West," Lightspeed didn't see any reason to lie.

"But not from this world."

"Nope."

"Why are you here?"

"Can't tell you. It might change the future."

"Where's my Kid Flash?"

"Ask Dick."

And he refused to say another word.

Aquaman went to question Kaldur.

"Where is Aqualad?"

"I'm sorry my king, but I must refuse to tell you."

"You are very loyal. Why are you here?"

"I must refuse to tell you that as well."

Superman took Powerboy.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Connor. Connor Kent."

Superman looked shocked. "You mean, I have a son?"

"No, a clone."

Another shocker.

"I'm not going to tell you anything, so you might as well leave," Powerboy said.

Superman, still shocked, left without another word.

Attempts to question the rest of the teens went about as well. The Leaguers had all but given up when Batman arrived, a covered bowl in his hand.

"What's that?" Flash asked, zipping up to him.

"Persuasion," the Dark Knight replied, entering the room 'Robin' was held in.

He sat down across from the boy and pulled the lid off the bowl. A dozen freshly baked cookies sat there in front of him. Nightwing tried not to drool. He hadn't had one of Alfred's cookies in so long, having them so close was maddening.

"You get a cookie for every question you answer," Batman stated. "Who are you?"

"Richard Greyson," he said, reaching for a cookie.

"Where did the three sidekicks go?"

"Cadmus. There was something about a fire."

Batman handed him a cookie.

"Why are you here?"

"To save the world."

He grabbed another cookie.

"How so?"

"Luthor's going to do something terrible. It'll change the League and the world forever."

He set the cookie on his growing stack.

"How do you know this?"

"It's what happened in our world. We just want to help you guys out."

Batman stopped him from grabbing another cookie.

"Explain."

Nightwing sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"In our world, you guys are known as the Justice Lords. After what Luthor did, Supes killed him and the Lords went bad. They had a tyrannical rule over the world until we rebelled and stopped them."

"And you expect this to happen here?"

"I've compared everything I could find. There are very few differences between our two worlds."

Batman handed him the bowl of cookies.

"Stay here, we'll discuss this more later."

Batman left the room and stood in front of the patiently waiting Justice League.

"They're at Cadmus. Let's go."

He stomped of into the Zeta beam, black cape flowing behind him. The Rebels watched, already planning their escape.

* * *

**So, briefly hooked up to the internet, so I can update. Have a great 2013 everyone, it's nice to know we survived the apocalypse. I don't know when I'll get a chance to update again, so I'll just keep typing chapters.**

**Have a totally awesome day,**

**Shadow**


	6. Debate

**A Better World**

**Debate**

After finding their protégés at the Cadmus ruins, the League took them home, with the exception of Superboy, who went to STAR Labs for a check up. The League then went to the Watchtower to discuss what they were going to do with the other teens.

"We need to get them home," Superman started out.

"Yes, but where is their home, and how can we get them back there?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Should we let them go back?" Flash asked. "They've committed some pretty heavy duty crimes here."

"We have to get them back," Batman said grimly. "Having them here has created a tiny hole in the universe, which will grow the longer they're here. It could cause all the dimensions to collapse in on each other if we aren't careful."

"So we're going to find a way to get them home," Superman stated, and the others agreed.

"We've got another problem," Batman said.

"What?" they chorused.

"Our protégés. They're teenagers, they want freedom, or they will rebel. What are we going to do about their recent exploits?"

"We can work on training them to work with the League, they'll be ready for missions in a few months," Superman said.

"And what about Superboy?"

"He can stay at the mountain."

"By himself? That's not a good idea, Clark."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Wonder Woman asked.

"We create a team for them, give them undercover missions, and teach them so that they can become part of the League one day, without having them go on dangerous missions they aren't ready for."

"But what if they become like the other ones?" Flash asked, munching on a banana.

"That's one of the reasons we need this team. What if something were to happen to us? What if we went down the wrong path? They'll be trained to work together and can do what's necessary for the world."

"I guess that makes sense," Superman said. "All in favor of making a team for the kids?"

"Aye," they said together.

"Now, we need to take care of these other kids," Wonder Woman said.

"I'm going to head home, I need to check on something," Flash said, and ran on out.

The group shrugged; confused by his strange behavior, but they went on to the Zeta beam. It was time to deal with these children.

* * *

**Sorry it's short, this is more of a filler chapter than anything. I'll try and get something better up soon.**

**Have a breathtaking day,**

**Shadow**


	7. DIscovery

**A Better World**

**Breaking Out**

In the Mountain, Nightwing had just finished picking the lock on his door. Batman had built it well, but he had some great tricks up his sleeve. He quickly picked the locks on the other doors and soon the Rebels were standing in front of the Zeta beams.

"We should leave, coming here was a bad idea," Ghost said.

"We need to finish the mission," Artemis disagreed.

"But is it worth it?" Tempest questioned.

Robin crouched outside STAR Labs with Kid Flash and Aqualad tagging behind.

"What are we doing here?" Kid Flash asked.

"The League is hiding something from us, I want to find out what," Robin replied.

"But why are we here?" he asked again.

"They're keeping Superboy here. I don't think it's right. Plus, we might need him."

"Oh."

Robin attached his wrist computer to the computerized lock on the door. A few seconds later, it popped open. They slipped in, careful to leave the door slightly cracked behind them. Robin pulled up a schematic of the building.

"I hacked into their server, and Superboy's being kept here," Robin said, pointing to a room on the schematic. "Let's go get him."

"We can still complete the mission. All we have to do is get out of here, kill Luthor, and leave," Lightspeed said. "We can't just let Flash die!"

"Wally, listen to me. We've tried. We can always come back if things start to go wrong," Nightwing said, trying to comfort his friend.

"Nightwing's right. We need to go back before we cause any more trouble. We can go home, plan things out better, and come back," Red Arrow said.

"But what if we come back too late?" Rocket asked.

"We'll just have to take that risk," he answered.

The trio snuck up on the sleeping Superboy. Robin placed his hand over his mouth and shook him awake. Superboy responded by throwing him into a wall. Robin bounced off and rolled to a standing position.

"Hey Supes, what's up?" Kid Flash asked.

"I was trying to sleep," Superboy responded gruffly.

"The League's hiding something from us, and we're going to go check it out. Wanna come along?" Robin asked quickly.

"No," he said, getting up.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

"We're going to need to get you some clothes," Robin said.

They went to the office area and found a box of clothes in the lost and found. It looked like they had been washed and folded, ready to be claimed. They quickly went through the box and found Superboy a pair of jeans. He reached in and found a black shirt with a Superman symbol on it. After he got dressed, they left.

"Ready the portal generator," Red Arrow directed Nightwing.

"It may take a few minutes to get the settings right," he replied, pulling out the device.

"That's all right. I'm sure the League wants us home anyways."

Robin opened the door of the Mountain and they snuck in.

"There's someone here," Superboy stated.

"Can you tell what they're saying?" Robin asked.

"Some sort of portal," Superboy said, shrugging his shoulder.

They slipped through the dark hallways of the mountain to where the Zeta beam sat. In front of it stood a group of teenagers dressed in strange costumes. They looked like nothing they had ever seen before, yet were incredibly familiar.

"Are they the Team that we met at the Hall of Justice?" Aqualad asked.

"I don't know," Kid Flash said.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I think we're ready to go," Nightwing said.

"I'm not going," Lightspeed stated.

"What?" Red Arrow asked, facing him.

"I can't. Flash is dead in our world. I can't let that happen here."

Behind them, someone gasped. Tempest and Powerboy shared a look and went to see what was going on. They came back with four boys, clearly Superboy, Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash.

"You shouldn't be here," Red Arrow said.

"Neither should you," Robin responded.

"What's this about Flash dying?" Kid Flash asked.

The Rebels glanced at each other. They didn't know if they should tell the others or not. Then, behind them, the Zeta beams activated and the League stepped through.

"Nightwing, get that portal functioning now," Red Arrow ordered.

He quickly pressed a few buttons on the device and a large yellowish portal appeared. The Rebels ran through it, Tigress grabbing Lightspeed and pulling him along as she went through. Kid Flash, who wanted his question answered, ran in after them. The other three guys followed their friend. The League ran in after their sidekicks.

The portal closed behind them. As Nightwing had to open the portal quickly, he hadn't been able to target where they would end up at. So, instead of ending up in the Watchtower, they were in Metropolis.

Plastered on the exterior of buildings were pictures of the Justice Lords with graffiti all over them. A crowd began to gather around the League and the Rebels. That's when they realized that they had fallen into a deep hole.

They were hated here.

* * *

**Just in case anyone was wondering, I hate school. Not the school itself, just the people in it. Or it could just be people in general seeing as I hate a number of crowded places. And if you're wondering why I put that, it's because I'm annoyed at school right now. Why can't it be summer already?**

**Have a keen day,**

**Shadow**


	8. Field Trip

**A Better World**

**Field Trip**

The League, their sidekicks, and the Rebels were surrounded in Metropolis by a crowd of angry civilians. Red Arrow raised his hand to his ear and activated his communicator.

"Beam us up Cheshire," he said.

Seconds later, they were all standing in the Watchtower.

"It's a good thing I got that going before we left," Nightwing said.

"What's going on? Where are we?" Superman asked.

"This is our world, it's great, huh?" Powerboy said.

"So, where's the League?" Robin asked.

"They're being kept at the Base under careful lock and key," Red Arrow said. "Is Arsenal down there?"

Cheshire nodded. Red Arrow turned to the League.

"Why did you follow us?" he asked.

"We came after our protégés," Aquaman replied.

"And we came after Kid Flash," Robin said.

"I just wanted them to answer my question!" Kid Flash defended.

"Well, since you're here, we might as well show you our world," Red Arrow said.

Nightwing went over to the computer and pulled up some video footage. In it, citizens of the world were walking around with dull eyes. No one talked to anyone else. The whole scene shouted depressing.

"This was our world under the Lords rule. Now that the citizens of Earth are free, they've taken to rebelling against any government that's too controlling, and destroy anyone who wants to call themselves a superhero," he said.

"So they hate us?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Yep. The Lords are being held in custody with large crimes of treason against them. We aren't exactly sure what their sentence will be for what they've done, but we're trying to steer people away from the death penalty," Red Arrow said.

"Even after all they've done, you still care for them?" Green Arrow asked.

"They may be completely nuts, but they're our family. And family sticks together no matter what," Lightspeed said.

"Listen, we need to get you home. Nightwing, fire up the portal generator," Red Arrow said. "We can finish our explanation once you guys are back."

Nightwing went over and started typing commands into the computer. The League and their protégés prepared to go home.

"You promise to explain everything once we get back?" Superman assured.

"Of course," Red Arrow promised.

And with that, they went back home.

* * *

**Next chapter will be longer, I promise. I'm working on some other stories, hopefully they'll be up soon.**

**-Shadow**


	9. Flash

**A Better World**

**Flash**

The Flash exited the Watchtower quickly. Of course he wanted to know what was going on, but he had more pressing matters on his mind. There was something… off… about him. He acted the same, did the same things, but inside, inside he felt strange. Like he was numb. Like everything was liquid inside him.

Surprisingly, it only happened when he ran. He could go around at the speed of a normal person, and he felt fine. But as soon as he started using his super speed, this feeling would set in, and it scared him.

He kept several vials of his blood handy, he checked it at least once a week to see if there were any severe changes in his DNA due to his powers. He drew a fresh vial and compared the two. They were exactly the same.

_But that can't be, _he thought. _There's something wrong, I can feel it. But… it's only when I run. I wonder…._

He vibrated his molecules like he was running. He felt that same feeling inside. And he drew the crimson blood.

He compared the two, and his eyes widened at the results.

He ran several more tests, narrowing down what exactly was going on. And it really wasn't good. He was dieing.

There had to be something he could do, some way to stop this. He couldn't believe what was happening to him, what would happen to Iris? And Wally? He had to fix this.

But what about the League? They needed to know what was going on. They could help him find an antidote. They could fix him.

But this was a toxin in his bloodstream. That meant that it would eventually work its way out. The question is, how long would it take.

He left the lab and walked at a normal human pace to the Zeta Beam. He needed to consult the League, and he knew exactly where they'd be, the Mountain.

^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^

But they weren't there. He forced himself to keep from moving at a fast pace, to keep from vibrating in anticipation and worry. But the League wasn't there. He had looked everywhere he could, but he ended up back in the room with the Zeta Beams.

A sudden bright light caught his attention as a portal opened up in the middle of the room. Out of it stepped Kid Flash and his interdimensional companion, followed by the rest of the teens from the two dimensions. Following them was the League members he had been searching for.

"Guys! It's great to see you," he said, walking over to them.

"Uncle Barry!" the teen speedsters said, zipping over to him.

"So, care to explain your miraculous disappearance earlier?" Superman asked.

He took a step back from the group and let his head hang. "It's not good guys. I was infected with a toxin earlier today. And it's killing me."

The traveling teens gasped in shock. After all they had been through, they had failed to prevent the very thing that sent their world spiraling into disaster. Flash walked over to the holocomputer and pulled up several pictures.

"The toxin doesn't do anything as long as my body remains at a human speed, but as soon as I use my super speed, it's liquefying my organs. It's simultaneously destroying my nervous system, so I feel no pain."

Surprisingly, it was Batman who went over to comfort the speedster. "We'll find a cure. Until then, you're put on inactive status. We're going to help you, Barry."

"You have to," Red Arrow said, causing everyone to look at him.

"And why is that?" Hawkgirl asked, holding her mace tightly.

"If he dies, it's literally the end of the world."

* * *

**So, another chapter done, sorry I couldn't make it longer. I'm really not very good at fluffing things out. **

**-Shadow**


	10. Truth

**A Better World**

**Truth**

"How am I gonna cause the world to end?" Flash asked.

"It's what happened in our world. It's why everything happened the way it did," Nightwing said.

"Explain," Batman ordered.

Red Arrow sighed. "Pull up the footage, Nightwing."

Nightwing went over to the computer and holographic screens sprang up in front of them. On it was a picture of Lex Luthor in the Oval Office. Next to it was a picture of the Flash being dragged in front of a bunch of soldiers.

"Luthor became president in our world a few years ago. It didn't take long before he found some reason that the Flash was treasonous. He had him executed by firing squad," Red Arrow explained.

"Wait, so I'm dead in your world?" Flash asked.

"Yep," Lightspeed said sadly, unconsciously shifting closer to the older speedster.

"I still don't see how this is going to bring about the end of the world," Superman said.

A few keystrokes, and Nightwing had changed the picture to a snapshot of the Justice Lords and a graph of those in jail through the years of tyranny. It was a straight upward curve with no sign of leveling off.

Red Arrow continued his explanation. "Not long after, our Superman went mad. He started talking to himself and he grew brutal. Every villain he fought ended up with at least a few broken bones. The rest of the Justice Lords, our version of the Justice League, grew more withdrawn and gloomy. They didn't think that the people could really take care of themselves anymore. Then, Superman decided that enough was enough. He went after Luthor, but he was egged on and killed Luthor. The Justice Lords then took over the world, taking away any power that countries had to rule themselves. All villains were lobotomized, and anyone who committed even a small crime was arrested without a trial."

"I don't believe it," Hawkgirl stepped forward.

"We would never allow ourselves to become tyrants," Wonder Woman added.

"But that's what happened. We didn't agree with what happened there, and we decided to take matters into our own hands. We took down the Lords, saved all the people of Earth, and now we're shunned. To them, we're criminals," Ghost said.

"And that's why you're here," Batman stated.

The Rebels nodded gloomily.

"We did not wish for your world to become like ours. We wanted to save you from all the pain," Tempest said.

"We'll have to talk this over," Flash said, it was a rare serious moment for him.

The League formed into a group to discuss what they had heard. A few minutes later, they turned around.

"We should have you arrested for what you've done, but instead, after reviewing the circumstances, we've decided to let you go home with the promise that you'll never return," Superman said.

Red Arrow nodded. "We realize now that's it wasn't the best idea to come here. We won't come back."

"We've got a few more questions, though," Wonder Woman said.

"I'll be happy to answer them," Red Arrow said.

The League and Red Arrow went into a separate conference room to talk while the rest of Rebel Justice sprawled in seats and on the floor. Kid Flash, Superboy, Robin, and Aqualad had stood in the background until this point. They stepped forwards, intrigued by their counterparts.

"We have a few questions of our own," Aqualad said.

"Ask away," Nightwing said, standing on his hands.

"How did the small number of protégés grow to this number?" he started out.

"Speedy, Robin, Kid Flash, and myself were the first. Our mentors were much more strict, and Superboy did not appear until after Speedy had disappeared. Martian Manhunter brought his niece, Miss Martian to be his protégé after Green Arrow took in Artemis. Zatanna joined after an incident with her father. Rocket joined the Rebels, as did the members that are not with us now, Cheshire and Arsenal," Tempest replied.

"Who's Arsenal?" Kid Flash asked, interested.

"Spoilers," Nightwing warned.

"You'll find out soon enough," Lightspeed joked.

The teens got along well, asking and answering questions.

"So," Kid Flash was talking to his counterpart. "Who am I dating in the future?"

Lightspeed turned red. "I don't think I should tell you. Just remember to look for a spitfire."

"Spitfire?"

Superboy and Powerboy were having a stare off.

"Does he talk to you?" Superboy asked.

"No."

Red Arrow stepped out of the conference room.

"It's time to go."

Nightwing set up the portal, and Rebel Justice left this world for the last time.

* * *

**So next time we'll find out what happened in the conference room. See ya soon!**

**-Shadow**


	11. Good Luck

**A Better World**

**Good Luck**

Red Arrow followed the League into a conference room. The members took their seats, leaving Red Arrow to stand in front of them.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Why did you come here?" Superman asked.

"I thought I already answered that."

"Humor us," Batman growled.

"We came to kill Luthor. We believed that if we could stop him, we could prevent Flash's death and the subsequent consequences."

"That's all?" Batman asked.

"No. We wanted to prepare the other sidekicks to leave you if necessary. If we failed in our job, hopefully they could end the tyranny quicker than we did. Maybe then, the people wouldn't shun us."

"Could we ask your opinion on something?" Superman asked.

"Sure," Red Arrow shrugged.

"Those kids out there, they disobeyed our orders and went to Cadmus, where they found Superboy. They want to form their own team, or they're going to disobey us again."

"Let them. It'll be a good backup if you cross the line, and it will help teach them to trust each other, to work together. Then, one day they can join the League."

"Our thoughts exactly," Batman said.

"But what if we prevent them from starting their own team? We could train them with the League and they could work with us there," Wonder Woman brought up.

"I can tell you only what I would've done. I would have left. You're holding them too tightly. If you try and control their lives, they're only going to rebel. You'll have a separate team forming, with no guidance, left alone to try and figure out what's right."

"But here, you did leave," Green Arrow said.

"Because I thought you were hiding things from me. That's what happened where I come from, anyways. I heard about the Watchtower, and when you didn't bring me here, I got ticked. I left. But I'm sure I'll come back. Wally and Dick are like my brothers. I wouldn't know what to do without them."

"So, let me get this straight," Flash said. "We're starting a team for the kids, some kind of Young Justice, just because something happened in an alternate dimension?"

"Apparently," Hawkgirl said.

"Oh. Sounds good!"

"Then we're decided. We'll form this Team, base it in Mt. Justice, and use them as a contingency plan for ourselves," Batman said. "Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"Yeah. Don't let Luthor become president. And don't let Flash die," Red Arrow said.

The League and Red Arrow exited the conference room. "It's time to go."

Nightwing nodded and set up the portal home. The Rebels said goodbye to everyone, then left through the portal. Before he left, however, Red Arrow looked back on the League and their partners.

"Good luck."

* * *

**And it's almost over. I've got one chapter after this, and that's it. It's been fun.**

**-Shadow**


	12. The League

**A Better World**

**The League**

They sat up in the Watchtower, silently guarding Earth. They only wished to help, yet were shunned for whom they were. They were Rebels, and they were alone.

The group went down to the Earth they protected. Everyone's lives were back on track. There was a government. There were laws. There was hope. Chatter filled the streets. This chatter fell to silence as they walked through.

In front of the White House, a new president was being inaugurated. He finished being sworn in and the crowd burst into claps and cheers before they arrived. They walked slowly through the crowd. It parted in front of them like water. Silence fell.

Red Arrow led them to the stage. There they stood in a line. Hisses and boos filled the void left by silence. Red Arrow waited for the president to move, then stepped up to the microphone.

"People of Earth. We have defeated the Justice Lords so that you may be free of their tyranny. This will be a peaceful time. But it can't remain this way forever. There will be new threats in the future. Myself and my companions have come to help. We have set up headquarters in the Watchtower and in Mt. Justice. We are your new protectors. We know that you don't want us, but you will need us. We are willing to work with the government to make sure that we never overstep our bounds. We just wish to help."

Silence had fallen over the crowd again as they took Red Arrows brief speech in. The teens left, and the crowd parted once again.

It took some time, but the people began to accept them again. New recruits appeared. Cassie from Themyscara. Jaime, the new Blue Beetle. A young boy they had helped once, Garfield. They worked together to guard the world. The government had files on all of them, so if needed they could take them out.

Soon they were trusted again.

But they were still nameless. They didn't feel right taking up the Justice Lord's mantle, and Rebel Justice made them feel separated from the people. But Connor had a brilliant idea. It spread throughout their ranks like wildfire, and they all agreed it was perfect.

Red Arrow agreed to an interview with Daily Planet reporter, Lois Lane. They met up in Mt. Justice, where they had set up a Earthside base. She sat across from him, notepad on her knee and recorder out.

"First of all, what do you call yourselves?" she asked.

Red Arrow smiled as he replied. "The Justice League."

* * *

**And it's over. There is no more. It would be incredibly boring if I were to try and move forwards from this point. It would go something like this: a horrible monster attacks the world, the JL fights it, it takes time and huge character development and they win. The end. I find writing that dull. So, this is the end. **

**But where there is an end, there is always a beginning.**

**Good luck.**

**-Shadow**


	13. A New Beginning

So, no one got my foreshadowing AN? That's really to bad. Seeing as there is no way possible that I can continue with this story, it is done. But I'm not done with it. When we entered in, we found the Rebel team already set up and running. But why did the sidekicks leave their mentors and how did they find Red Arrow? Why did they decide to take the Lords down? That is the beginning of the story, and a part that is most definitely missing.

That means that it's time for the beginning. The Path to Justice. And it'll be up later this week if you want it. I'm just going to flesh out some more details about the start of the Rebel team and just what happened. This is getting a bit long winded, so I think I'll stop here. See ya soon!

-Shadow


End file.
